Configuring a Data Workbench Server File Server Unit

IMPORTANT

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Information about Insight Server file server units and the file server configuration process.

You can configure the data workbench server (InsightServer64.exe) to run as a File Server Unit (FSU) by completing the parameters in the Log Sources > Log Server node of the Log Processing.cfg file. When the data workbench server is configured to run as an FSU, it stores source files ( .vsl files, text files, or XML files) that can be accessed quickly by multiple processing servers (DPUs). When the DPUs in a data workbench server cluster accesses the FSU to read the log files, they divide the log files among them and guarantee that the same file is not processed more than once.

NOTE

When setting up an FSU that serves a data workbench server cluster consisting of five to ten DPUs, you should make the cluster’s master server the FSU.

For information about installing a data workbench server cluster, see the Server Products Installation and Administration Guide.

If the location is a remote location, the data workbench server machine that is processing the data connects to the designated remote machine to read the logs.

On the data workbench server machine designated to run as an FSU, the Access Control.cfg file lets the DPUs connect to the FSU, and the Communications.cfg file maps the location of the remote data files. The process steps to configure an FSU are as follows:

  1. In the Log Processing.cfg file on your master data workbench server, specify the type of data source and the location of the source. See Specifying the Data Source.

  2. In the Access Control.cfg file on the FSU, edit the permissions to allow the DPUs to connect to the FSU to read the log data. See Editing the Permissions on the File Server Unit.

  3. In the Communications.cfg file on the FSU, edit the settings for the LoggingServer and FileServer entries to specify the location of the log files. See Specifying the Location of the Log Files.

  4. If you are configuring your dataset profile to run on a data workbench server cluster, you also must make the cluster’s FSU the server where all of the profile’s dimensions are constructed:
    (For data workbench server clusters only) In the Communications.cfg and cluster.cfg files on the FSU, add entries for a “normalize server” to make the FSU the server within the cluster where all dimensions are constructed. See Creating a Centralized Normalization Server for a Cluster.

For instructions to configure a dataset profile to be processed by a data workbench server cluster, see the Server Products Installation and Administration Guide.

NOTE

The following instructions assume that all of the log files reside in the default directory. If you want to store logs in another directory or create multiple log paths, contact Adobe Consulting Services to discuss your specific configuration.

Specifying the Data Source

When specifying remote data sources for a dataset, you must specify the type of data source and the location of the log files on your master data workbench server.

To specify the data source and its location

  1. Open the Log Processing.cfg file. See Editing the Log Processing Configuration File.

  2. Add a Sensor, log file, or XML data source. See Log Files.

  3. Complete the Log Paths parameter. See Sensor Files, Log Files, or XML Log Sources. Be sure to specify a valid URI.

  4. Complete the Log Server parameters defined in the following table:

Parameter Description
Name Name identifying the remote file server.
SSL Server Common Name

Server Common Name listed on the file server's SSL certificate.

This parameter is optional if Use SSL is set to false.

Address

Address of the file server machine. Can be left blank if Name matches SSL Server Common Name.

For example: visual.mycompany.com or 192.168.1.90.

Port Port through which the data workbench server machine communicates with the file server.
SSL Client Certificate Name of the SSL certificate file for the data workbench server ( server_cert.pem).
Use SSL True or false. True indicates that the file server uses SSL.

If a proxy server is required for the DPUs to connect to the FSU, you need to complete the following parameters:

Parameter Description
Proxy Address The address of a proxy server that the data workbench server must use to access the file server.
Proxy Password Optional. The password to the proxy server.
Proxy Port The port of the proxy server. The default is 8080.
Proxy User Name Optional. The user name for the proxy server.

Following is an example of a defined Log Server in the Log Processing.cfg file. Log Source #1 is a LogFile source that points to a directory called Logs (note the URI specified in the Log Paths parameter) on the machine named FSU01.

Editing the Permissions on the File Server Unit

In the previous process, you configured a profile for a given dataset to read log files from an FSU. Now you must edit the permissions on the FSU to allow connections from the DPUs that are running the profile. The following steps walk you through editing the permissions file Access Control.cfg.

To edit permissions on the FSU

  1. Open the Server Files Manager for the data workbench server machine that you are setting up as your FSU and click Access Control to show its contents.

    For information about opening and working with the Server Files Manager, see the Data Workbench User Guide.

  2. In the Server Files Manager window, click Access Control to show its contents. The Access Control.cfg file is located within this directory.

  3. Right-click the check mark in the server name column for Access Control.cfg, then click Make Local. A check mark appears in the Temp column for Access Control.cfg.

  4. Right-click the newly created check mark under the Temp column and click Open > in Workstation.

  5. In the Access Control window, click Access Control Groups to show its contents.

  6. Right-click the numeric label for the final AccessGroup in the list and click Add new > Group.

  7. Enter a Name for the new AccessGroup. Example: Connecting Servers.

  8. Right-click Member under the new AccessGroup, then click Add new > Member.

  9. Enter the IP address for the data workbench server’s DPU that connects to this file server.

  10. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for any other data workbench server DPUs that connect to this FSU, including the data workbench server DPUs in a cluster that must access the log files.

  11. Right-click Read-Only Access under the new AccessGroup, then click Add new > URI.

  12. Enter the location of the stored log files on the file server machine. Use forward slashes (/) in the path specification. The default location is /Logs/.

  13. Right-click (modified) at the top of the window, then click Save.

  14. In the Server Files Manager window, right-click the check mark for Access Control.cfg in the Temp column, then click Save to > server name to save the locally made changes to the data workbench server’s FSU.

Specifying the Location of the Log Files

You must edit the Communications.cfg file on the FSU to specify the location of the log files.

To specify the location of the log files

  1. In the Server Files Manager window, click Components to show its contents. The Communications.cfg file is located within this directory.

  2. Right-click the check mark in the server name column for Communications.cfg, then click Make Local. A check mark appears in the Temp column for Communications.cfg.

  3. Right-click the newly created check mark under the Temp column and click Open > in Workstation..

  4. In the Communications.cfg window, click component to show its contents.

  5. In the Communications.cfg window, click Servers to show its contents. Several servers may appear: File Servers, Logging Servers, Init Servers, Status Servers, Send Servers, or Replicate Servers.

  6. (For Sensor log sources only) Find the LoggingServer, which is where Sensor writes its log files to be processed by the data workbench server, then click its number to view the menu. Edit the Log Directory parameter to reflect the desired location of the log files. The default log directory is the Logs folder within the data workbench server’s installation directory.

    Do not modify any other parameters for the LoggingServer.

  7. Find the FileServer that specifies the location of log files. There may be several File Servers listed under Servers, so you may need to view the contents for many of them (by clicking the server number) to find the desired server.

  8. Edit the Local Path and URI parameters for the FileServer to reflect the location of the log files. The following example shows that the log files reside in the Logs folder within the data workbench server’s installation directory:

    NOTE

    If the Local Path and URI parameters are populated as shown, you can access the log files on the FSU from any data workbench server by clicking Logs in the Server Files Manager.

  9. Right-click (modified) at the top of the configuration window, then click Save.

  10. In the Server Files Manager window, right-click the check mark for Communications.cfg in the Temp column, then click Save to > < server name> to save the locally made changes to the data workbench server’s FSU.

Creating a Centralized Normalization Server for a Cluster

If you are configuring your dataset profile to run on a data workbench server cluster, then you should make the cluster’s FSU the server where all of the profile’s dimensions are constructed.

Adobe strongly recommends that the cluster’s FSU serves as the cluster’s master server and its centralized normalization server.

To make the FSU the centralized normalization server, you must open and edit the Communications.cfg and Cluster.cfg files on the FSU.

To make the FSU the centralized normalization server

  1. Add a NormalizeServer entry to the Communications.cfg file on the FSU.

    NOTE

    If you have installed the complete release package for data workbench server v5.0 or later, the Communications.cfg file on your FSU should have a NormalizeServer entry already. You can follow the steps below to confirm that the entry exists.

    1. Open the Communications.cfg file in data workbench as described in Specifying the Location of the Log Files.

    2. Click component to show its contents.

    3. Right-click Servers and click Add New > Centralized Normalization Server.

    4. In the URI parameter for the NormalizeServer, type /Cluster/.

    5. Right-click (modified) at the top of the window, and click Save.

    6. In the Server Files Manager window, right-click the check mark for Communications.cfg in the Temp column, then click Save to > < server> name to save the locally made changes to the data workbench server FSU.

  2. Define the centralized normalization server in the Cluster.cfg file on the master server in your data workbench Server cluster.

    NOTE

    If the FSU on which you are setting up your centralized normalization server is not the master data workbench Server in your cluster, you must add the IP addresses of the DPUs in the cluster to the Cluster Servers access group in the FSU’s Access Control.cfg file. For instructions to add servers to the Cluster Servers group, see Updating the Access Control File for a Cluster section in the Server Products Installation and Administration Guide.

    1. Open the Profile Manager within your dataset profile, then click Dataset to show its contents. The Cluster.cfg file is located within this directory.

    2. Right-click the check mark next to Cluster.cfg, then click Make Local. A check mark for this file appears in the User column.

    3. Right-click the newly created check mark and click Open > in Notepad.

    4. Add the text that is highlighted in the following file fragment:

      Cluster = ClusterConfig:

      Normalize Server = serverInfo:

      Address = string:

      Port = int: 80

      SSL Server Common Name = string: server common name

      Use SSL = bool: false

      NOTE

      When you enter the common name of FSU for the SSL Server Common Name parameter, the FSU uses its .address file to resolve the common name. For information about the .address file, see the Server Products Installation and Administration Guide.

    5. Save the file.

    6. In the Profile Manager, right-click the check mark for Cluster.cfg in the User column, then click Save to > dataset profile name to save the locally made changes to the dataset profile.

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